The following Saturday, 1 April was the day of the semi at Hampden Park. However Gerry and I would not be going. My father had some other engagement that day and could not take us. At least that was the story we were told. It was a long time later before I realised his “engagement” was at Hampden. I think he was reluctant to take a couple of youngsters to the Hampden slopes with more than 72,000 other people.
The second half of the game would be on the radio though and my mother was told to make sure she put on BBC Scotland just after the 4pm news. However her technical ability was somewhat limited and we had to listen to another BBC station with a commentary from an English game with only an update of what was happening in Scotland! However we did discover that Celtic had a 4-0 win and as the opponents in the final were to be lowly Dunfermline surely my first season as a Celtic Supporter would be a successful one.
Before the final though there were more games to be played including my first “away” game at Dens Park. Considering the plethora of teams in the West of Scotland a trip to Dundee for a first away game seems a bit odd. However it was more to do with family than football. My mother’s brother Eddie Ryan had recently taken a management position with Timex who were based in Dundee.
He had bought a house in Broughty Ferry and family had an open invitation to call. In those days the journey from Glasgow was still a bit of an adventure. Especially to a kid. My father was an AA member and got from them a route map for the journey north. As navigator I got a seat in the front while my mother was in the back with the 2 other boys Gerry and Jim who was born in 1956.
It so happened that Celtic was due in Dundee on the last weekend of the Easter break. A game against Dundee on the Saturday and then United were to be the opponents at a non-floodlight Tannadice on the Monday afternoon, being the local Easter holiday. We would not be able to see the second game as we would be back at school. I was puzzled as to why Dundee had a different Easter from Glasgow!
Dad took Gerry and me to the Dens Park grandstand as a holiday treat. We were seated at the end nearest the bulk of the Celtic support in the 17,500 crowd just above the tunnel where the teams came out. A Stevie Chalmers goal gave Celtic a 1-0 win. I saw my first Celtic penalty in this game. A tame effort by Billy McNeill that Pat Liney saved. (Missed penalties were something I would have to get used to over the next 50 years or so).
I also witnessed for the first time the excitement on the Celtic terracing of a Rangers reversal. When the half time scoreboard announced Aberdeen 3 Rangers 0 the cheers from the terracing were long and joyous. My father was excited too and told us about a Cup semi-final some years earlier when the Dons had beaten the Ibrox men 6-0. That seemed incredible to us but on that day Aberdeen went on to record a 6-2 victory.
While we were in Dundee we learned that Celtic would have 2 players in the Scotland team for the following week’s game against England at Wembley. Billy McNeill had been in the original eleven and then due to Lawrie Leslie’s injury Frank Haffey would be in goals. We were happy to hear that but as any Scot of that age will remember Frank must have wished that the Airdrie keeper had stayed fit.
A year had passed since I saw that Scotland v England international on TV with my father. The Wembley games however were not featured “live” at that time. Indeed there were league games scheduled on the day of the game. Gerry and I listened to a second half commentary on the radio in our room. Scotland was 3-0 down at half time but scored 2 goals to bring themselves back into the game. We rushed downstairs to tell our parents the exciting news but by the time we got back up England had scored again and again and again and again – 9 times in all. That night’s Scotsport programme screened the highlights. Instead of the usual stirring introductory theme music the lament “Flowers of the Forest” was played instead!
